Halo one half
by moritynz
Summary: Ranma gets bought to the future to save the Human race as a SPARTAN, because Ranma Saotome doesn't lose. Chap 5 up
1. Child's Play

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Ranma 1/2 or The Halo enterprise as a whole. I write this purely as a dedication to them both. There is no point trying to sue me anyway because I'm nothing more than a poor Otaku.

Enjoy Halo 1/2

Chapter 1 - Child's Play

--

**UNSC Calendar (assumed): September 21st, D+76:18:56 (SPARTAN-117 Mission Clock), Location: Halo Construct, Threshold System.**

The Will of the Macro-cosmos was in a mood, her favorite little playthings were being torn apart left, right and centre by those damn little covenant puppies and she couldn't really do anything to directly interfere in what was happening. The ideas for the Spartan-II program she had placed in that young Dr Halsey's mind had proved fortuitous as if it hadn't been for those 33 men and women the pitiable humans would have been overwhelmed long ago.

She had been watching young John run around that silly forerunner construct for a few days when she came to a realisation that she _could_ do something to help change the tides on which the battle was flowing, all it required she do was break a few small rules and bring one of the single most powerful individuals the human race had ever spawned and bring him to this point in time, it was only a matter of 500 or so years.

_Yes,_ she thought to herself in glee _I was wondering what else I could do to that boy I ran out of tricks after that damned wedding and left him alone, now I have this delightful little development._ So with nothing more than a thought she left her current time stream to play around in the past once again.

Shortly after her departure from the universe in which she had resided for the past century the Spartan know as Spartan-117 Master Chief, died in the explosion of the Halo construct, the fall of man and all life in the known universe followed shortly thereafter.

--

**Standard Date Calendar: 28 April 1995, Location: Tendo-ke, Nermia-to, Tokyo, Nihon.**

Ranma Saotome of the Saotome Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, or Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, and self-proclaimed best Martial Artist in the world was currently having what can only be called an out-of-body-experience. Seeing as how he was wide awake yet floating above the inert form of his own body he really couldn't think of what else to call it, he was interrupted from further study of this unique occurrence by a polite female cough near the door.

Turning toward the noise Ranma discovered that he was not the only person in the room to have gained the ability to float several feet of the floor, indeed a rather impish little girl was sitting cross legged on thin air as calmly as if it were solid ground and smiling at him. It wasn't the floating that made him worried it was the smile, it didn't promise pain or retribution like some smiles did, just untold mischief.

"Hello Ranma, how are you doing? Things better with Akane these days? I have been gone an awfully long time so I don't know quite what has happened since I was last around." The girl asked in a sweet and piping little voice.

"Umm..." Ranma managed to reply.

"Oh dear your not going to shut down on me dear boy," she frowned slightly in annoyance the clicked her fingers sharply "now if you don't mind I'd like to have a proper conversation with you, not the 9 year old child you pretend to be."

At the sound of her commanding voice and the click of her fingers Ranma's astral form shook slightly as it was hit by the girls compulsion. Slowly the quakes came to an end and Ranma met the young girls eyes with a grin to match hers.

"Ah now that is something I don't miss happening, How can I help you Cos-chan?" Ranma asked casually.

"Good to see you remember me Ran-kun," the girl said happily, the frown vanishing totally, "now as to what you can do for me I need you to die then come with me."

This news was delivered in a tone one would use to discuss the peaceful weather rather than the somber one usually used when discussing death and as such caught Ranma totally by surprise.

"You want me to what?!" He yelled at the small girl.

"Ok so maybe a bad choice of words, what I want is for the current you to vanish from this particular timeline, I need you in the year 2517 in the body of a 6 year old boy to change the future of the human race."

"Ok now thats a new one Cos-chan, would I be coming back at all? Im not really concerned if I do, its been 3 years since Saffron and nothing much has changed here, except I'm now engaged to Nabiki because Akane went to America to study." Ranma explained with a touch of bitterness in his tone.

"Aw poor Ran-kun, no you don't have to come back, in fact it would probably be best if you didn't, do you want to see if someone special wants to come along?" the girl asked with a sly grin.

Several different people that Ranma would like to take with him flashed through his mind in quick succession though they eventually settled on the clear image of a rather buxom brunette with a pageboy haircut. Ranma closed his eyes knowing the right thing to do already but wanting to really burn the image of her smile into his memories.

These thoughts and actions were of course not lost on the will of the Macro-cosmos and she smiled too herself as a scheme started to grow in her mind to play further games on the poor Saotome boy. _So he fell for the middle girl in the end huh? He must have cracked her shell and found what she was really like, I'll leave that for later, I need to focus on this right now._

"Ok Cos-chan I'm up for it, will I remember this life at all?" Ranma asked, unsure how he'd handle two sets of memories of growing up.

"I'll be sure to keep the memories of all the techniques and how to _properly_ learn them in your mind but you will discover them yourself in such a way that you will think you made it all up by yourself. I cant have you going insane on me after all."

"Ah ok then, lets do this Cos-chan, lets go save the human race... Again."

With a flash of light visible only on the astral spectrum Ranma, astral and physical forms, and the girl were gone. It would be several hours more before he was found missing and several years before the last of the interested parties stopped searching.

One Nabiki Tendo however had never really given up hope on the young man she had come to know and left to search for her errant fiance, she was last seen while visiting her family early 1998 then she too vanished from the lives of the people who had known her.

--

**UNSC Calendar: 26-08-2517, Time: 0630, Location: Harvest Colony, Epsilon Indi System**

A young Ranma Saotome was waking up slowly from a rather peaceful dream to the feeling of no longer being in his bed, his sleep addled six year old mind couldn't quickly find a reason as to why he was no longer in his bed and as such he failed to land on his feet, instead using his head as a landing medium. The cold hard ground worked even better than most modern alarms do to wake up the young boy.

"The hell did you do that for ya old man." The irate little boy yelled at his robust father.

"It's past sunrise you foolish boy it's time I gave you you're morning lesson, now unless you land 30 hits on me this morning you're not getting fed." The rather portly man stated as he stepped out of the open window into the yard.

"And what if you don't land 30 hits on me old man does that mean _you _get no food this morning?" Ranma asked in accordance with his routine.

"Of course boy but then you have to be able to avoid all but 29 of my attacks before you mother calls us if while still landing your 30 blows in order to get fed, and get mine in the deal, remember."

"Course I do old man now bring it on."

The rules thus stated, as they had been for the past 5 years since the boy's mother had deemed him old enough to begin formal training, the two martial artists attacked one another. The elder saotome had never been a slouch, despite the considerable bulk he carried in his midsection he could still move with alarming speeds and thanks to the bulk he could soak up damage lesser practitioners would have no chance handling.

Yet the six year old child he faced gave as good as he received, the smaller boy took every advantage his height and youth gave him over his father, and by the time his mother called an end to their bout they had both only managed an even 30 hits each. As was always the case, they had never discussed their early morning ritual, it didn't need to be discussed, it was something understood on a level beyond words. It was a _guy_ thing.

They were finishing up their meal when I polite knock sounded on the front door, the mother glanced quickly at her husband ad son to see if they were expecting someone when they just shrugged at her silent question she rose from her place at the traditional japanese table to answer the door.

What she found was a smartly dressed young woman who, while not beautiful was quite stunning, and a man standing behind her that just screamed military in the way he held himself. The woman smiled at her from behind her glasses while the man seemed to only feel uncomfortable in the situation he had found himself in but was dutifully following orders, which meant this woman was important, very important.

"Good morning, sorry to intrude so early in the day, My name is Catherine Halsey and this fine young man is Jacob Keyes, I was wondering if perhaps I could discuss something with you and your family Mrs Saotome?" Catherine said in a pleasant but very all business tone.

The Saotome mother was a little off balance at the sudden appearance of this woman and her military escort and could do little more than stare for a short while before realising that she had been spoken too.

"My apologies I don't seem to have woken up completely just yet, come on in, we have just finished breakfast I'm afraid but perhaps you would like some tea?" Her training as a proper hostess kicked in to override her unease and she escorted the pair inside.

--

Doctor Catherine Halsey was looking forward to this particular visit, his genetic profile didn't show the same inborn mass that other spartans had nor did it display a possibility for greater intelligence, his profile in fact showed a stunningly normal child, he was so normal as to be abnormal. But that wasn't what had truly gained the doctors attention, rather it was that the child seemed to be a martial arts genius, it wasn't a towering intellect like her own, just the ability to instantly asses a situation then just as quickly react in accordance with how he believed he should, mostly that was to fight back.

She had approached the home of the child with trepidation, it had been noted in the child's profile that his parent both adhered strictly to ancient, old earth, samurai codes. As such they held honor and politeness above all else and could be notoriously difficult to deal with if you dealt the wrong impression.

Lt. Keyes settled into what, she assumed, was for him a casual stance, one pace behind and to the left of the doctor as the both came to a stop in front of a rather unassuming wooden door. Doctor Halsey was surprised to see a wooden door in this day and age, not many people could afford them given that wood was such a coveted commodity, even with the tree rich outer colonies. She knocked on the solid wood and heard the pleasantly sharp crack of her knuckles against the varnished surface.

Shortly after knocking the door was answered by a woman of average height with dark auburn hair that was tied in a rather stern looking bun. The woman seemed surprised more by Lt. Keyes behind her rather than the early house call she was paying. Seeing that she wasn't going to be responsive any time soon the doctor decided to speak first.

"Good morning, sorry to intrude so early in the day, My name is Doctor Catherine Halsey and this fine young man is Jacob Keyes, I was wondering if perhaps I could discuss something with you and your family Mrs Saotome?" She said in a pleasant but very all business tone.

The woman blinked several time's at them as if her mind was currently undergoing a reboot process, within seconds of the doctors statement the Saotome matron was back in action.

"My apologies I don't seem to have woken up completely just yet, come on in, we have just finished breakfast I'm afraid but perhaps you would like some tea?" She stood aside to let the doctor and the Lieutenant inside.

"Some tea would be much appreciated thank you Mrs Saotome, would you like some also Jacob?" she looked over her shoulder at the man who was gazing around uneasily, obviously out of sorts over what he and the doctor were here to do, but being the proper military man he was following orders without question.

"No thank you ma'am, I was never much for tea." he replied in a carefully regulated tone.

Doctor Halsey was watching the Saotome matron's reaction to Jacob's mode of speech and the way he walked, she obviously recognised him as military personnel but was unsure what to make of him while not in uniform but obviously on escort duty. She raised no mention as they were shown into the lounge where a rather rotund man and a six year old child were currently engaged in fierce battle with chopsticks.

They watched a while as father and son battled at speeds that were almost too fast for the doctors eye to catch, food vanished the reappeared on plates so fast it almost seemed to not leave at all, all the while the small mountains of food the pair had in front of them were slowly being reduced to nothing but crumbs.

It was only a short time before the food on the table was gone and the man and child finally took notice of the Saotome matriarchs return with two strangers. The pair looked up from the table only once all evidence of food is gone from the plates in front of them. The child was still chewing his last mouthful while the father was rubbing his fingers where his son had broken off the chopsticks in the part of the battle.

"Halsey-sensei this is my husband, Saotome Genma and my son, Saotome Ranma. I apologize for their display, my husband is a martial artist and our son is in training. All things in life must be thought of as a challenge to be overcome or training in order to become a true Artist." Mrs Saotome intoned, her voice full of pride.

The man and his son both bowed their head towards the doctor as they were introduced, Catherine, who had been briefed in some of the formalities involved in introductions among traditional japanese, returned the bow, she could feel the Lieutenant tense up behind her at her actions, obviously confused by her actions. Catherine silently berated herself for not briefing him on the proper protocols before arriving.

Ignoring the Lieutenants discomfort, Catherine followed the Saotome matriarch into the dining room and took the seat she was directed too. With only a slight indication of her hand she signaled the Lieutenant to sit behind and to the right of her. She was sure that the movement did not go unnoticed but none of the three Saotome's made mention of it.

With only a look from his mother Ranma stood and started clearing the table of the breakfast dishes, between him and his mother they made short work of the plates, bowls and cups that covered the table. After serving some tea in a rather traditional manner, the pair returned to the table and took their places either side of Genma who sat at the end. All three looked at Catherine expectantly.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit Halsey-sensei?" Genma asked once everyone was settled in their place.

"I have come to ask for your child, to be perfectly blunt. I know of your past history with the military and the anti-UNSC insurgents so I should also let you know I am here on behalf of UNSC Section Three in regards to the Classified Eye's Only: Super Soldier project. We are drafting children from throughout UNSC controlled space to take them in for a twelve year training program that will turn them into the most effective fighting force the human race will ever know.

"Protocol set out by the higher ups state I shouldn't be telling you this but the file I was given on your son and family showed me that trying to take Ranma by force and leaving behind a flash clone would not be sufficient. So I opted to appeal to you personally." Catherine spoke quickly, not overly comfortable with revealing so much information, especially to civilians.

While she spoke Catherine kept a close eye on the Saotome elders faces, while Genma's expression didn't change at all, Nodoka's features hardened considerably, not at the mention of taking her child but rather at the mention of section three.

"So ONI want to take our child away to craft him into some mindless super soldier, to be taught how to kill another human and feel no remorse? Why can't ONI leave my family in peace? After everything they did to me why must they have my child too?" Genma said in a voice as cold as arctic steel.

"This is why I am here in person Saotome-san, I know of the grievance that was done against you by Section Three, I am here to ask you in person rather than attempting to ghost your son away in the middle of the night. I'm asking this of you for the sake of the human race not the UNSC, if the insurgents gain too much more momentum they may succeed in bringing down the infrastructure that holds the colonies together, this cannot happen.

"I believe your son has what it takes to truly help the UNSC for the better and by extension the human race. The genetic pool for this program is very select your son is one of only a couple of hundred of children have been chosen from all the human colonies. If I take Ranma with me today he will be enlisted for life, you will never see him again, most likely you will never even hear of his exploits either. So, what say you? Or more," she looked at Ranma "What say you?"

The small boy looked at her, his mind unclouded by the prejudices that his parents held, bright blue eye's shining like a pair of sapphires. "I wanna protect the weak and uphold the Code." Ranma spoke slowly, making sure of his words were clear and true.

"And what is the Code, Ranma?" Catherine asked.

"To protect the weak, to only use my strength on those who threaten people who can't fight back, to not take a human life for granted." Ranma said proudly. It was obviously something he recited often as his words were faster and more sure.

Catherine looked at the Saotome elders after Ranma was finished speaking. The child's speech effected his parents more than Catherine's had, Genma's face had gone pale though his expression hadn't changed, Nodoka's face had gotten even harder.

"Ranma, Saotome Ryu Kata seven to fifteen, NOW!" Genma snapped without looking at him.

Ranma rose without question and moved outside, once on the grass he took up a position that the Doctor recognized as a variation of the Crane style. From there he started moving slowly in a fluid grace that almost didn't seem natural for a human, it was more something only a cat should be able to perform. After only a few strikes and blocks Ranma started moving faster, slowly accelerating to a point where Catherine could no longer follow his movements.

"That is the talent my boy has, _Doctor." _Somehow Genma managed to pack more loathing into her title than she had ever heard in a single word before.

"And such is the reason he was selected Saotome-san." Catherine replied evenly, unperturbed by Genma's loathing.

Oddly enough it was the Saotome Matriarch who came to the Doctors defense. Her face hard and voice cold she cut across any further tirade that Genma may have had for her.

"You may take him." The sentence was short and simple but the silence after it was palpable.

Genma sat stunned, his mouth part way open and his eye's glued to his wife. Slowly higher brain function returned to the portly man and he closed his mouth with an audible click. Doctor Halsey looked at the two Saotome elders, trying to determine what to say so as to not set them off.

"Are you sure that you both agree to this?" she said slowly into the silence.

"No, but take him you must, if you have spoken true then what you are looking to achieve upholds all the tenants of the code. He will need a position better than what we can give him to truly influence the human race." Nodoka spoke slowly, as if each word were a struggle to get out.

Catherine bowed deeply from her position at the table and motioned for the Lieutenant to do the same. When she rose again she met Nodoka's gaze with a look she hoped was grateful. Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement as Genma got up from the table and walked slowly outside to speak with Ranma who was slowing down from his blinding speed.

The elder Saotome male spoke with his child for a short while before delivering a brief and awkward hug then shoving Ranma inside. The child made his way deeper into the house and came back a short few minutes later with a pack close to half the size of himself. With only the quickest look at his father, who was standing still as stone in the garden where he had spoken with Ranma, the child then bowed to his mother and stood looking expectantly at Catherine.

Taking her queue from the young boy Catherine bowed once more to the Saotome Matriarch, shifted so she was facing the Saotome Patriarchs back then bowed once more. The Lieutenant copied her movements even if he did not understand the meaning behind all that had happened that morning. Standing slowly and moving with a confidence she did not feel Catherine followed Ranma from the house.

"Doctor what...?" The Lieutenant was obviously at a loss for words over what had just transpired, they had never picked a child in the fashion they just had, it unnerved the normally reserved man.

"Don't think on it Lieutenant, Ranma will be joining us until we reach our final destination, I'm trusting your ability to keep a secret." Catherine explained, in a much more off hand manner than what she felt.

Once outside the family estate Ranma fell in next to the Lieutenant, imitating his step and how he held himself, obviously recognizing his military training and wanting, by instinct, to incorporate it into his style. The three walked slowly towards the colonies shuttle dock.

Ranma never looked back.

--

**UNSC Calendar: September 23, 2517, Time: 2300, Location: Military Resevation 01478-B, Reach, Epsilon Eridani System.**

Ranma stood with seventy-four other children in the frigid night air of the Military base. The vast majority of them were tired, scared and rather confused as to why they were standing in front of a platform in the middle of a field rather than asleep in their beds. The figure of Doctor Halsey and an older Military man walked up onto the stage, the children quieted down in hopes of an explanation.

Ranma had already been told about what was expected of him and why he was there so he looked around at the other children to try and get a read on the people he was going to grow up with. A couple of rows ahead of him a boy stood slightly taller than all but a couple, he was unremarkable to look at with brown hair and some freckles but the way the Doctor shot looks at him Ranma could tell he was one to watch.

One of the other tall children caught Ranma's eye, she was even taller than the boy who had caught the Doctors interest and from what Ranma could see with his rudimentary aura reading abilities she was fast, very fast. There were several others that stood out also, one was stronger than the others, another more patient, yet another highly attuned to his surroundings.

All the children were the same on a base level but Ranma could already pick out some traits that will come in handy in combat situations, especially if they are developed properly. He made a mental note to himself to try and befriend those children and really push their limits in those area's, having specialists in a team would be a major advantage over basic training.

Snapping back to what was really going on around him Ranma noticed that the children were starting to shuffle towards some low buildings behind the stage. Realizing that he had missed the entire speech he trotted to catch up with the first kid he'd spotted from the group.

"Hey there," he said in slightly accented english "my name's Ranma, what's yours?"

"I'm John." the kid replied curtly.

Ranma ignored the curt reply and kept at the surly child "I know what we got coming for us John, it ain't gonna a fun time, we gonna have to work as a team, so the whole team has to win in order to win and I don't loose, you seem like you can keep up, what do you say reckon you can?" Ranma had a keen insight in John's mind, seeing as it worked a fair amount like his own so he knew exactly what buttons to push.

John looked at him from heavy lidded eyes, the fire of a challenge starting to burn and lift some of the exhaustion off the six year old. "I _always _win, no matter what." he replied with heat.

"Good, cause I _never_ lose, we'll make a good team." Ranma held out his hand to seal the deal. Slowly, as if unsure that he could work with someone else, John put his hand out to meet Ranma's and the friendship was sealed. It was a moment that would change both their lives and set events on a totally different course, one that would be felt from one end of the known universe to the other.

--

**A/N:** So now that the journey has begun what do you all think? Love it? Hate it? Want it to have your brain children? Would rather to leave it to rot in a corner?

Let me know what you think. The more people who respond in a positive manner the faster I will write the story.

It will be following the books for the most part, I may add some stuff and take stuff out but i'll try and stay true to the Halo verse as much as neriman-chaos-magic will let me. Yes Ranma will get his curse, don't know how or how it will affect MJOLNIR but I'll think of something, I'm also open to suggestion there. More Ranma characters will arrive later on, as implied with the Ranma/Nabiki thing I have going there. I may hook them up but as SPARTAN's ain't exactly the romantic type not sure how to work that.

NO, Nabiki will not be Cortana or a SPARTAN.

Sorry about Grammar and stuff, will probably update about this time next month so get reviewing and you may see your idea influence my story, with acknowledgment of course.

Till next time, Moritynz out.


	2. First day at Boot

**General Disclaimer: **_I do not own the rights to the Halo games, story line or characters. Nor do I own the rights to the characters of Ranma 1/2. I do this totally for my own entertainment and the entertainmentof others. I get nothing out of this but the ejoyment of the review and stats._

**UNSC Calendar: September 24th, 2517, Time: 0530, Location: Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach, ****Military Reservation 01478-B.**

Ranma had been up since a little after five am and was already washed and changed when dozens of men and women came into the bunk house followed by the man who had been standing on the stage the night before next to the doctor. All the other men and women paid no mind to Ranma sitting on his footlocker and went to stand at the end of a bed. The man, whose name Ranma saw was Mendez, came and stood before him a small smile on his lips.

"An early riser are you trainee?" Mendez asked in something similar to an amused voice.

"No sir, just looking forward to finally getting a proper workout again sir." Ranma replied, his time with Lieutenant Keye's had taught him several things about military protocol and as it seemed Mendez was in charge then he needed to be addressed properly.

"Hmmm, 012-Ranma, ah you're the trainee that volunteered, I know your file trainee. We are going to be watching you, if your too high over the rest you'll get special individual training until they catch up and don't even think for a moment that they wont, you may be good but they can be better," With that Mendez turned to the rest of the children gathered an impressive breath and bellowed "WAKE UP, TRAINEE!"

Several children jerked up out of bed in surprise, some falling to the floor in a mess of blankets and limbs, others just rolled over to try and escape the noise. The other men and women that had come in before Mendez pulled out small batons and poked the children in the feet with them. There was obviously a charge emitted by the batons as the children who had kept sleeping were shocked awake, most fell off their cots with less grace than the others.

"I am Chief Petty Officer Mendez," Mendez shouted from his place next to Ranma. "The rest of these men and women are your instructors. You will do exactly as we tell you at all times."

Mendez pointed towards the far end of the bunk house "Showers are aft. You will wash and then return here to dress." he waved a hand at Ranma "012 here is already dressed and because of that he gets an extra helping at dinner, first two to join him out here dressed and ready will also get an extra helping." The children stood gawking at Ranma sitting on his footlocker fully dressed in the gray sweats that had his name stencilled on them.

Ranma caught Johns eye and frowned slightly at the boy as he wasn't moving, he mouthed the word _go_ at him. John finally got the clue and started towards the rear of the barracks. Several other children started to follow his example but some others were a bit slow in reacting. They got shocked again for their trouble.

"No slacking trainee! On the double!" Mendez yelled once more as the last of the children began to half shuffle, half trot towards the showers.

* * *

It was only a short few minutes later when the first children began to trot out of the shower rooms. Now more awake from the ice cold rinse at the end of the procedure. The first two ready were John-117 and the lanky girl Ranma had spotted the night before Kelly-087. In the light coming from the overhead fluorescent bulbs Ranma saw she had her hair dyed blue. Ranma made a mental note to keep close too these two children. As the three waited for the other trainee's to finish their showers Ranma decided to do a quick meet and greet. Walking up to Kelly he stuck out his hand.

"Hey I'm Ranma." He said in a cheerful but still quite tone.

"Kelly." The girl replied shortly as she accepted the handshake.

"This is John, I reckon us three should keep together, maybe get some of the others together. Best chance to not get zapped is to stick together," Ranma explained to the two children. "Since old man up there has singled us three out we may have to work groups of three so lets do our best to keep in the same group." Ranma couldn't say any more beyond that because by the time he was don discussing his thoughts the rest of the children had emerged from the shower rooms.

"Outside, trainees," Mendez announced. "Triple time... _march!_"

Ranma and the other children stampeded out of the barracks onto a strip of grass. Outside the sky was still grey with only a slight tinge of the rising sun on the horizon. A pair of jets screamed overhead and in the distance a metallic crackle could be heard.

Mendez stood in front of the children, a hard look on his face, "Five equal-length rows. Fifteen trainees in each row," He waited several second as the children slowly shuffled into place. "Straighten those rows. You know how to count to fifteen, trainee? Take three steps back."

Ranma, John and Kelly joined the second row.

"Star jumps!" Mendez shouted suddenly. "Count off to one hundred! Ready, GO!" With that he started to count. One of the children refused to do the exercises; they got a stun baton in the side for their trouble. A pair of trainers did the exercises with the children, probably to prove a point that it could be and would be done. No excuses.

After the star jumps there was a brief pause as the trainers at the front shifted into a lying down position with their legs in a bent position. The children followed their example only from exhaustion. The Mendez was in front of them again.

"Sit-up's, now!" He yelled as the trainers started the new drill. "Count off to one hundred. Any trainee who quits runs the compound twice then comes back and does two hundred. Ready, GO!"

Deep squats were next on the list. Followed shortly by knee lifts.

John and Kelly both vomited, Ranma could feel the urge coming on. Not even the training that Genma had put him through had been this repetative and unflexible. Sure Genma had made Ranma do marathons of nothing but a certain exercise but never hundreds upon hundreds of different repetitions at such high speed with out pause.

By the time Mendez called an end to the hellish exercises Ranma had lost control of his stomach and finally bought up what little food he had left in his system. He crouched on the ground on his hands and knee's breathing deeply, sweat poring off his forehead and making stinging his eyes. Shaking his head to try and clear the slight dizziness bought on by the exercise Ranma took a look at John and Kelly.

John was in much the same state as Ranma if breathing substantially heavier, Kelly was on her back, eyes closed, hand on her forehead and stomach taking deep calming breaths. Ranma smiled.

_These two pick up recovery techniques fairly quickly _and_ they held out on vomiting almost as long as I did._ Ranma was silently congratulating himself for his decision to befriend the other two children. He knew he would have to befriend every other one of the 75 children in order to be able to meet the goal that the Doctor had in mind for them all, even if he didn't really understand much about what she wanted he understood enough of what she'd asked of him during their travels to be able to tell it was _very _important.

Ranma became aware that Mendez was saying something to the trainers, lifting his head to look in their direction and saw that they were dispensing bottles of water amongst the other children. He took the one offered to him and drank greedily of it. The water was warm and slightly salty but he didn't care, it was the best water he'd had in his life at that point in time.

Once the majority of the trainees were breathing normally Mendez was in front of them all again looking as fresh as he had when he had woken the children that morning despite doing the exercises with them.

"Fall in trainees, its time for a short jog!" Mendez yelled and before turning and setting a brisk but not totally gruelling pace, if the children were fresh. As it was it took a few prods from the trainers to get all the children moving.

* * *

Ranma tried to think things through a bit more carefully and plan who to befriend from the children next but before he could focus properly on any of the other children he found himself panting and the blood pound in his ears as he struggled to stay jogging.

The 'short jog' turned out to be over two miles, down a winding stone path and past the length of the air strip with all the incoming and outgoing air traffic blowing over their heads amidst pounding downdrafts and ear splitting jet roars. Finally they came to a staggering halt in front of tall white building with the words _'Naval Officers Academy' _chiselled into the arch above the entrance.

A woman of indeterminate age stood on the top step looking down over them all, Ranma shivered when he looked at her. _She's an AI_ he thought _That's why she has no aura, she's an AI _the lack of a living aura, despite her appearance of being a fully functioning human, disturbed Ranma more than he cared to admit.

"Excellent work Chief Petty Officer Mendez," she said in a smooth as silk voice. She turned to the children who were just getting their breath back again. "Welcome. My name is Déjà and I will be your teacher. Please come in. Class is about to start."

Ranma and several other children groaned at the prospect.

She simply turned and started to walk inside. "Of course," she said, "if you prefer to skip your lessons, you may continue the morning calisthenics."

Ranma joined the other children in double timing it up the stairs without further complaint.

The inside of the building was cool and small trays of crackers and milk had been set out for each of the children. Ranma ate his food quickly but still felt hungry. When Déjà started to show them all a holographic projection of three hundred soldiers standing against the seemingly endless tides of Persian infantry and winning.

Déjà explained the history of the time and the people that fought. The three hundred men were all Spartans. Trained to fight and kill since their earliest days they were the best soldiers the world had ever known. No one could match them.

"That's all for today," Déjà said. "We'll continue tomorrow and I'll show you some wolves. Now its time for you to go to the playground." Most of the other children perked up at the mention of a playground but Ranma caught an underlying tone of amusement in the AI's voice and was instantly wary. He followed the stampede of children outside slowly.

Chief Petty Officer Mendez was waiting for them, so were their trainers.

"Time for the Playground," Mendez said, and waved the children closer. "It's a short run. Fall in."

* * *

It was a further two miles, following a different course from the one they had taken from their calisthenics area but eventually they came to a stop in front of the 'Playground'. It was like nothing Ranma had ever seen in his life. A veritable jungle of poles, cargo nets, bridges and climbing ropes that all swayed in the wind. There were even some pulley systems set up that looked to hoists baskets sturdy enough to carry several children. Overall Ranma was impressed.

"Trainees," Mendez said, "form three lines."

Ranma and the other children stepped into line without complaint. Compliance was quickly being learnt by them all.

"The first person in each row will be team number one," Mendez informed them, "the second will be team number two... and so on. If none of you understand this speak up now."

The children remained silent.

Ranma glanced to his left. Kelly was in his team but John was two people behind them in the sixth team. Instead Kelly and Ranma were joined by a rather plain looking girl with Linda-058 stencilled onto her top. Ranma gave Kelly a quick smile and caught the eyes of Linda. An instant recognition was established between them and Ranma knew he could count on her to pull through in a tough spot so quickly focused his attention back on Mendez.

"Today's game," Mendez explained, "is called 'Ring the Bell.'" He pointed to the tallest poll in the Playground. Easily an additional ten meters taller than the others. Hung at the top was a heavy looking brass bell.

"There are many ways to get to the bell," he told them all, "I leave it up to each team to find their own way. When every member of your team has rung the bell, you are to get groundside double time and run back here across this finish line."

Mendez used his baton to scratch a long line in the sand.

John raised his hand and Ranma silently cursed him.

Mendez stared hard at the boy before asking. "A question, Trainee?"

"What do we win?"

Mendez cocked an eyebrow at the question and his eyes seemed to bore even further into the child. "You win dinner, Number 117. Tonight, dinner is roast turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, brownies, and ice cream."

An excited murmur started to run through the children.

"But," Mendez added, "for there to be winners there must be a loser. The last team to finish goes without."

The silence was quick and painful. Suddenly the other children were more wary of each other.

Ranma quickly started to make a plan of action to get them all fed tonight but it would require a potential sacrifice on his teams part to get a win for them all.

"I think I know a way to get all of us food but we have to be able to convince the others into going along with it. Plus we gotta get to the bell first to pass on the plan." Ranma quickly said to the two girls on his team.

"Why not just win and let someone take a fall?" Kelly asked.

"Did those Spartans let a man fall just so they could live?" Ranma asked, his voice as hard as a six year old child could make it.

"No, but..." Kelly attempted lamely.

"There is nothing else to it, no one is gonna loose, we all gonna win this." Ranma stated with surety.

Linda nodded and Kelly shortly followed her example.

"Make ready!" Mendez said.

"I'll explain as we run." Ranma said quickly, his attention focused almost totally on Mendez.

"Go!" Mendez shouted.

The children dispersed in an unruly mob. The only groups with any sign of cohesion were Ranma's and John's. The two groups ran side by side for a short while as Ranma explained the plan of action he had in mind and they all helped one another through the confusing maze of ropes and bridges. Moving ever closer to their goal.

"I want every last kid to approach the line as one group. We all walk across the line at the same time we either all loose or we all win. I'm gonna gamble we all win. They want us to be a complete team most of all not just small groups." Ranma explained as they traversed a bridge that threatened to spill them into icy water.

"How do you know so much 'bout what Meandez wants?" A dark skinned boy with Fhajad-084 stencilled on his jersey asked.

"Travelled with the Doc for a while 'fore comin to here she told me stuff." Ranma said with a slight shrug.

"You wasn't just picked up in the middle of the night?" Another boy, with Kurt-051 written on his top, asked.

"Na they came and asked ma folks if they could take me just after breakfast one mornin'" Ranma replied casually.

"What about your parents?" Kelly asked.

"May never see them again but as a martial artist my life belongs to the people and this place will give me what I need to follow the code." Ranma stated calmly as if it were all obvious.

"You know kung fu?" John asked incredulously.

"A little bit but mostly Kempo and the family style. But nuf of that we gotta job ta do, now you guys understand the plan?" Ranma asked seriously.

A general chorus of ascent from the other children and Ranma nodded then looked to their destination. It seemed they would be first to reach it. "We go up one at a time and ring the bell, others stop any new comers and explain the plan." When he received nods from the all he pushed forward a little faster to secure the way and make sure they could reach the pole without trouble.

There was need for only two detours from their original line and the group was still the first to reach the pole. Ranma was the first on site so the first to ring the bell quickly followed by Fhajad. By the time Kelly, who was fifth in line to ring the bell, was making her way up the rope to the bell half of the children had arrived at the site and were quickly being made aware of the plan. Few were disagreeable to the idea. Those who were quickly got silenced by the children around them.

After what seemed a small eternity to Ranma all the children had made it to the pole and rung the bell. Now it was just a matter of getting 75 children to step in time over a line only a few feet across. Once on the ground he and the others from John and his group managed to coerce the children into linking arms in the best attempt at getting them to march in time that they could come up with.

After a few false starts they children were able to set a brisk pace across the Playground to the finish line. Ranma watched Chief Petty Officer Mendez the entire time they approached. His face seemed chiselled from stone aside from the single eyebrow that rose at the sight of 75 six year old children marching in step over the finish line.

Mendez scanned the line quickly with his sharp dark eyes. His eyes settled on both Ranma and John for a short period of time before barking suddenly. "Numbers 117 and 012. Front and center." Ranma and John hurried to comply. "So a fancy little tactic you thought up here," Mendez paused but neither child spoke, "commendable also that you didn't let a single person suffer just for the sake of yourself. It seem's the lesson from Déjà settled in faster than I thought it would," once again he paused to regard them both, "you will all eat tonight. Good work, Trainee's."

With that announcement Mendez turned and walked away, leaving the children to be herded towards the mess hall where they all got to stuff themselves on turkey soaked in gravy and creamy mashed potatoes. All followed by an abundance of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. The whole time in the mess hall Ranma either ate or talked with the children he had met that day, making friendships he knew would be needed if they were going to become like the Spartans from the hologram.

When they left the mess hall for their bunk house most of the children were starting to fall asleep standing upright, Ranma included, and they were all looking forward to their beds. Despite all his previous training Ranma was exhausted, mentally and physically, the events of the day had taken a huge toll and it was only the beginning.

Ranma, like the other children, was asleep as soon as his head hit the flat pillow on his bed.

* * *

**A/N: **_OK so first things first, I know this chapter sucks and I know I took forever to get it out. Sorry. It was a hard one to write but I feel it was needed. Those who know the books will be able to spot the parts which are the same but will also be able to spot how much Ranma's interference is changing things already._

_It should also be noted that the children are smarter than what a six year old should be. Keep in mind the year is 2517 kids could be smarter then be default and also these kids have been picked cause their cream of the crop. Ranma knows so much because he spent over a month with the Doc, she took him into confidence so he could prepare the other kids to hopefully up the success rate of the later augmentation._

_Please review._

_Till next time. Ja Ne._


	3. The Game

_Sorry for this being so long in coming, my muse up and left me for some time. Anyway this is one of my longest chapters yet and has lots of stuff going on. Hope you enjoy._

_DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to Ranma 1/2 or The Halo enterprise as a whole. I write this purely as a dedication to them both. There is no point trying to sue me anyway because I'm nothing more than a poor Otaku._

_Chapter 3: The Game. _

* * *

**0630 Hours, July 12, 2519 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Eridani System, Reach Military Wilderness Training Preserve, planet Reach**

Ranma clutched the overhead grip tightly as the drop-ship roared over a snowy peak. The sun, just visible on the horizon, washed the snow that covered the jagged mountain tops with pinks and oranges. The other members of his team watched out of the other windows in the ship.

John jostled his way through the crowd to him. "Reckon we can even the score out here?" He asked with a quick smile.

"You'll never even the score, after all I don't loose." Ranma retorted.

"Didn't look like you won last week. What was it that you did in the end of the exercise? Came out with a white flag?" John teased.

"Yeah and handed your butt to you before your team dog-piled me." Ranma shot back with a smug smile.

"My team still won in the end and thats what counts." John said calmly.

"Is it?" Ranma asked suddenly. "I'm not so sure sometimes, is it ok to win at the cost of someone when that cost could have been avoided?"

John was silent for some time following that question, it wasn't one he could answer despite it not being the first time that Ranma had asked it of him. Was it ok to loose a team member to complete the mission when there could have been a way to avoid the loss and still win? John was sure the answer was 'no' but what if there was no other option that could be seen. Hindsight being 20-20 and all that.

He was snapped out of his musings when CPO Mendez stepped from the cockpit to the hold area. All trainee's snapped to attention. "At ease, and sit down."

"Today's game will be simple for a change." Mendez's voice easily cut through the background noise of the drop-ships roaring engines. He passed a stack of papers to Kelly. "Pass these out, Recruit."

Kelly snapped a quick salute. "Yes sir!" She quickly went about handing the papers out to the rest of the seventy-five child squad.

"These are all portions of a map of the local region. You will be put down and then navigate to the designated extraction point. You will be picked up there," Mendez explained. "First drop in 3 minutes."

Ranma looked at his map quickly and couldn't readily find anything useful on it. He received a nudge in the side from john who pointed out the window at a river that made its way to a lake. Ranma nodded and passed it on the to trainee next to him, a kid that he didn't know as well as the others called Frederic. All the children knew about the plan in short order.

The drop-ship slowly descended over a river bank and Mendez made his way to stand in front of John. "Your first boot, oh and one last thing to warm your boots trainee, last one to the EP gets to walk home."

Ranma couldn't make out John's expression as he made his way down the ramp but he could tell that the other kid's brain was ticking at a million miles a second to try and figure out how to get them all back. He wasn't given much time to ponder the situation as the drop-ship ascended once again to go to the next dispatch point. Looking out his window Ranma noticed that John had already taken to the shelter of the tree's. Mendez's games always held an extra twist.

Ranma was the fifth child to disembark from the drop-ship. It took a few moments for him to orient himself to the terrain before he started the trek towards the river and finally the lake. Keeping a sharp ear out for any hints of possible threats Ranma's mind was running through two problems at once. First being how to get all of them on the drop-ship and not have to have anyone walk back to camp. The other being some martial arts theory he had been inspired about only a few days before, but was still yet to have the chance to try it out.

Ranma came out of his musings when two sounds met his ears in rapid succession the first being the sound of running water, the second being a singsong tune whistled from above. He whistled back the reply 'Olly-olly Oxen Free' and waited for someone to collect him.

Within only a few minutes a small figure ghosted out of the thick underbrush, only the faintest noise of disturbed foliage gave the child away to the senses but Ranma had senses that others didn't and could instantly tell who the figure was before they even emerged into visual range.

"I could hear you a mile off Linda, you need more work." Ranma said without turning around to face her. He could hear her footfalls stop and practically feel the indignation come off her in waves.

"The lake is another half mile west of here. How do you keep doing that? It's creepy." Linda complained softly, she did everything softly, everything but hit that was. Despite her slender frame Linda packed a mean jab. In an all out brawl she would be next to useless but for quick and painful distraction hits, she was the one you chose.

"It's an art," Ranma said with a smirk as he finally turned to face her. "come on lets start moving, how many last count?" Ranma asked as he started to walk towards the lake.

"Half at last count, not all were put down as close to the river as others and some were put even further out than you. We might be hiking at night if we are unlucky." Linda informed him, Ranma had become a quick leader amongst the kids from an early stage, earning their trust and friendship in equal measure.

As the pair slowly came to their destination Ranma started to reach out with his senses, he had been able to feel when people came near him for a little over a year now, he felt the presence of most of the other children not to far ahead of him plus the ones that were in the tree's above them keeping watch for any of the children and potential threats.

* * *

In the clearing John had taken charge in Ranma's absence, he had gathered together most of the map pieces and a plan was already beginning to form in his mind. He only needed to see if there was any more to the map and discuss the plan he had in mind with Ranma. Internally he laughed at the idea, two years ago he would have attacked Ranma for even planting the idea of getting approval on a plan, but a lot had happened in the last two years.

A badly whistled birdcall caught his attention, only several members of the team warranted that call, seeing as Kelly, Sam and himself were already next to the lake that meant Linda was coming back, hopefully with Ranma. He looked over towards the tree-line a good fifty meters distant and could easily make out Ranma taking one of the other kids to task for their bad whistling. It caused a rare smile to grace his lips.

Rising slowly from his position near the bank of the lake John made his way towards Ranma and Linda to discuss their next options. Ranma was just winding down from his latest rant with Linda standing beside him ever silent but there was a slight tilt to her lips and eyes that indicated to a smile. The crunch of his boots on the gravel beach bought Ranma's attention from the unfortunate child onto himself.

"Come on Ranma you know Kurt can't whistle to save his life, thats why we never put him on far watch." John said once he was sure that Ranma wasn't going to have a go at him.

"Then keep him on open watch instead John, he's part of your team, either fix the problem or use his strengths." Ranma said calmly, the beginnings of a debate often taken up obvious in his tone.

"Now isn't the time, boys." Linda interjected softly before John could start up. Ranma shot her an odd glance before deciding to heed her advice.

"Ok then, we are almost all here, what do we have so far?" He asked in what the other cadets had come to know as his 'leader tone'.

"Going from the map pieces we have so far and best guessing some of the distances, since we don't really have to tools to make an accurate translation, we have about another six hours hiking ahead of us to reach the EP." John explained to him as they walked back to where Kelly and Sam were resting with the map.

"Ok so who is missing?" Ranma asked the silent pair. "I wanna start moving before dark."

Kelly stood up and snapped a quick salute to Ranma. "All accounted for except Fhajad, he was last off, should be here within the hour, unless he got lost. Part of your team after all Ranma, don't know how they function without the mighty leader." She said with a smirk.

"Not all of us can run like rabbits Kelly, least he's got a better head on his shoulders than yours, he'll be here." A quick trill came from the tree-line followed by a dozen shapes emerging from the shadows. "Ah and here he is now, took a side trip to pick up our watchers too, almost as quick at thinking as you are running away there, Rabbit." Ranma smirked back.

Once again Linda came to the rescue by pointing silently towards the group of children again, more specifically the child being carried on one of the others back. Both children had some blood covering them though it seemed to be mainly from the child being carried. John frowned at the sight and saw Ranma start to move towards them at a speed that rivaled Kelly.

The group came to a stop and let Ranma and the others join them. Ranma was first on the scene, Kelly a close second. By the time the other children were on site Ranma had the injured child on the ground and stripped to the waist to expose the wound. With only a cursory glance the wound would seem to be superficial but if one were to look closer it was evident that some bones had broken to compliment the gash.

"It was a boar sir," One of the children was explaining, a dainty little girl called Elisabeth, or Liz "It attacked Todd here no reason I can think of, a couple of us managed to kill it before it could skewer him properly." Ranma nodded then turned to Sam.

"I want its body here in fifteen, find out what you can as to why this happened, but that comes second to bringing its body to me." Ranma ordered.

Sam nodded then gathered a couple of cadets and moved back into the forest to follow out the order. John watched them walk briskly back in the direction they had emerged from. Turning his attention back to Todd and Ranma, he needed to blink a few times just to affirm what it was that he was watching.

While John was giving orders to the other children, Ranma was focusing his attention on Todd. Thinking back on a previous lesson with Deja, in which she had discussed with them some contemporary old forms of healing, he considered Reiki healing and an idea of how to implement it to save Todd's life.

Closing his eyes, Ranma focused his own aura towards the palms of his hands. A glow started to envelope them as the spiritual energies began to gather. Keeping his eyes closed and mind focused on the task at hand Ranma failed to notice both the light show and also the drain on his own body that quickly started to sap his energy.

John watched in shock as the light that covered Ranma's hands extended out and over the wound in Todd's side. The bleeding slowed and eventually came to a halt as the glow started to get weaker and John finally took notice of Ranma's state. Where only moments before he had looked vibrant and full of life, now he was pallid and sickly.

Ranma seemed on the verge of collapse and was beginning to wobble where he knelt until John put a steadying hand onto his shoulder. Ranma looked up at him with a weak smile, his eyes communicating what needed to be done. John searched Ranma's face for an idea on what he had just done, finding nothing but promising himself to find out later he set about making litters for the pair.

* * *

It was only a short while later when the children were all making their slow way through the forest towards the extraction point that was marked on the map. John hovered around the middle of the group, keen to keep a close eye on the condition of both Ranma and Todd. While their complexions both got a little healthier and the certainly didn't get worse, the pair still looked frighteningly unwell and John was afraid for his friends lives.

After several hours of solid marching and the imminent onset of night word finally come from the scouts of a clearing several kilometers ahead with a pelican drop-ship. All was not as it should have been though, according to the scouts the men around the Pelican were not in standard issue UNSC combat fatigues that all the ground troops wore. The pelican was unmarked and the one scout with an IFF tracker pad couldn't pick up anything from the implanted IFF chips that all UNSC troops have in their neural implants.

John decided to take a probing action to find out if the men were friendly or not. It would mean using Ranma and Todd as bait but they would understand. His plan was simple, first a rabbit would draw the attention of the men with either Ranma or todd on their back and then pull them deeper into the woods to be ambushed by a group of children. Shortly after another group would pull another away, hopefully dropping the numbers a bit.

After quickly outlining his plan to the group they split into two units to carry out the distraction. John stayed in the same unit as Ranma and Kelly, placing Sam and Fhajad into the leadership roles of the second unit.

Kelly had the job of being the Rabbit for their unit and Linda would play spotter to see how the men reacted to the presence of not only a child but a pair of wounded ones also. John bent down and picked up a rock the size of his fist from the forest floor. Hefting its weight he looked around at the near 30 other children still with him. Several others had followed his example and picked up sticks and other various blunt objects. Another group and scaled up several feet into surrounding tree's to get a jump onto the target.

It was only a short time later that the sound of breaking bush announced Kelly's return.

She came out of the brush at a speed that defied logic, especially with another person on their back. Shortly followed by a panting man dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a thick jacket. He stopped and looked around the small group of children, not seeing the hidden recruits, and smiled.

"Well, well I expect two and I get four times that, come on kids I have hot cocoa back at the ship." While the man talked his hand moved slowly towards a stun baton resting at his waist.

When the mans hand started to close around the batons handle, John struck. With a lightning quick throw the stone left his hand and impacted the man on the elbow of the arm reaching for his baton, disabling it with a sharp crack of bone. The man let out a cry of pain and spun towards John but managed no more than a step before the hidden recruits dropped him in a flurry of small bodies and limbs.

John smiled at the sight then smiled further as Linda ghosted into sight long enough to give a thumbs up and a quick signal for five men approaching their position. Quickly regaining order over the children he passed on the situation and got them back into position, this time taking a hidden spot also.

The men walked into the clearing to find their comrade in arms unconscious on the forest floor. The men were instantly put onto alert by the sight but like the man before them were unable to get their stun batons clear before rocks flew and disabled their arms. They went down shortly after. Thirty to five are not odds stacked in the marines favor.

The marines went down quickly and soon all that could be heard was the excited breathing of the children. Slowly the rush of taking down their opponents wore off and the children went about securing the marines and getting everything ready to take back to the drop-ship. It wasn't long before everything was ready and the cadets were again on the move, this time feeling less cautious about their situation but still maintaining the calm discipline they knew they would need to see this game through to the end.

"Come on lets go see how the team did." Kelly whispered to John as they walked.

"Not us Kelly, we have to stay with the team," John whistled sharply and Linda ghosted out of the bushes a few paces away, "go see what's waiting for us at the clearing, try to find out what Sam and Fhajad have done." Linda nodded and disappeared into the bush again.

"It's still freaky how she does that." Kelly commented under her breath.

"But useful." John shot back in defense.

Kelly could do nothing but nod her head at that, they had been saved more than once by Linda forewarning them of a danger ahead that only she could get close enough to in order to recognize. She may not talk much but she was one of the biggest assets the squad possessed. John bought the team to a halt in order to wait for news from Linda before moving on. The didn't have to wait long.

"All the men have been taken care of, it seems there were only a dozen in total, some cadets in the other team were tagged by stun rounds before they could neutralize the threat." Linda reported after giving John a crisp salute.

John nodded at the information, his jaw tightening slightly at the news of losses. He took stock of what their team had done different to the other in order to have sustained no loss and figured it to be a matter of a rabbit. He would have to speak with Fhajad and Sam later.

"Come on lets move, keep you guard up until we hit the ground at base, this isn't a holiday, its one of the CPO's games and nothing is ever quite what it seems in a game." John spoke loudly but only loud enough for his voice to carry over the whole group. He was answered by a chorus of 'Yes sir!' from the others before they began to march out of the forest and into the clearing beyond.

Waiting for them at the ship was the other team of cadets, Sam waved him over from the top of the loading ramp on the Pelican. John tapped Kelly on the arm and tilted his head in Sam's direction. She nodded in response, understanding that he wanted her to handle the team without him, leaving him free to jog over and speak with his friend.

"So we have this bird but none of us can fly, any ideas?" Sam asked as soon as John took a step onto the ramp.

"I have one." He replied with a grin to match Ranma's.

Making his way up to the cockpit of the aircraft he quickly found the COM unit amongst all the other instruments and patched himself through to Deja. Her face appeared as a scratchy hologram above the unit.

"Good evening, Trainee 117, do you have a homework question?" She asked.

"Kind of Deja, we are playing one CPO Mendez's Games." He replied.

"Ah." she paused for a moment. "Very well."

"Im in a Pelican drop-ship and we have no pilot, but we need to get home. Can you teach me how to fly please?"

Deja's head shook in the negative "You are not rated to fly that craft Trainee. But I _can _help you. Do you see the winged icon in the corner of the flight screen? Tap it three times."

John tapped the button. The screen promptly filled with a myriad of icons and displays.

"Touch the green arrows at nine o'clock twice," she told him.

He did so and the words '_autopilot activated' _flashed on the screen.

"I have control now," Deja told him "I will get you home."

"Hold on a second." John dashed outside quickly. "Everyone onboard – double time!"

The children started streaming onto the ship.

Kelly stopped next to him at the foot of the ramp, "Who's getting lefts behind?"

"No one," John replied tersely "just get on board." Making sure he was the last one on John made his was back up the the cockpit. "Ok Deja get us home, I should advise that we have one wounded by boar tusk, one fatigued and several WIA in our number, if we can have the appropriate response teams ready for our return that would be good."

"Thank you for the advisory Trainee 117, I will have medics standing by ready to receive the other trainee's."

"Thanks Deja." John muttered, the last thing he heard before drifting to sleep in the pilots chair was the roar of the Pelicans jets lifting them into the air.

* * *

John and Ranma both stood to attention in Chief Petty Officer Mendez's office. Neither had been there before, none of the cadets had. They both radiated an aura of unease about them but Ranma hid it the best out of the pair, the only give away to his nerves being a slight tremble in his eye. Where John had sweat trickling down the side of his head.

The CPO glowered at them both over the top of the report on his clipboard.

The door opened and without announcement or permission Dr. Halsey walked into the room.

"Hello Ranma, hello John." She greeted them each in turn with a small smile, she sat gracefully in one of the chairs to the side of the room so she could see them but Mendez also.

"Dr. Halsey." they both replied without hesitation and with a crisp salute. Neither questioned why she called them by their first names when no other grown ups did.

"Trainee 012, I would like to know why you almost killed yourself using a technique you had never used before and had no idea what its effects may have been." Mendez stated without preamble once the Dr was seated.

"Sir, I either used the technique with the hope that it would work and trust in my skills or watch a comrade in arms bleed to death, sir." Ranma replied.

John saw the Dr making some notes on a portable terminal out of the corner of his eye but his attention was soon held entirely by Mendez when he received the next question.

"Trainee 117, I would like to know why you stole UNSC property and incapacitated the team I had assigned to guard it."

Under Mendez's stare John wanted to crumble and start apologizing for his actions. Promise to do anything to make it up to them. But John and Ranma both knew the Chief hated whiners, almost as much as he hated excuses.

"Sir, the guards were out of uniform, had no IFF tag we could pick up. They failed to identify themselves, sir!"

"Hmmm, so it would seem," Mendez said slowly, "and the ship?"

"I took the squad home, sir. I was last on board if anyone should have been left -"

"I didn't ask for the passenger list, Crewman." His voice softened to a growl as he addressed Dr. Halsey. "What are we going to do with this pair?"

"Do?" She resettled her glasses further up her nose and set the portable terminal on her knee. Her Gaze pierced them both. "I think thats obvious, Chief. Make them both squad leaders."

* * *

_Love it? Hate it? Found something wrong with it? Please let me know so I can fix it._

A/N: Not much to be said in the author notes this time around. This chapter is a turning point for John in the original story line, I just couldnt kick John out of squad leader totally so instead im going to split it in two. John is basically going to be Ranma's 2IC in the field but until they hit proper military ranking then they are on an even playing ground. If anyone has any ideas on how this could make things play out further in the future let me know as im writing as I post so your comments could change the flow.

Ja Ne


	4. Graduation

**Standard Disclaimer: **_I do not, nor will I ever likely own any of the properties to the character or ideas contained within my stories. I write purely as a dedication to the minds who created the characters and worlds who keep my so thoroughly enetertained. The rights and reservations to Halo are held by Bungie and the rights and reservations to Ranma 1/2 are held by Rumiko Takahashi and Viz._

_**Quick a/n:**_ Sorry about being away for so long and also sorry that this is also such a small chapter. It felt like the right place to finish it when I did. The next chapter will probably be some time in coming but I will not let this story die. So keep the reviews coming.

**Chapter 4: Graduation**

* * *

**1130 Hours March 09, 2525 (UNSC Calendar) / Epsilon Eridani System, Office of Naval Intelligence Medical Facility, in Orbit around Planet Reach**

Doctor Catherine Halsey paced in front of walls of monitors that showed the vital signs of all her charges. One wall showed all their cardiac system information while another showed the status of the augmentation procedure that would be done to each of them in turn.

"Decryption complete doctor." Came the voice of Deja in her ear.

"Very good, put it on my glasses."

Slowly text began to scroll on her glasses, moving up or down in accordance with her eye movements. It read:

**United Nations Space Command Priority Transmission 09872H-98**

**Encryption Code: **Red

**Public Key: **file /excised access Omega/

**From: **Admiral Ysionris Jeromi, Chief Medical Officer, UNSC Research Station Hopeful

**To: **Dr Catherine Elizabeth Halsey M.D., Ph.D., special civilian consultant (CIN:10141-026-SRB4695)

**Subject: **Mitigating Factors and relative biological risks associated with queried experimental medical procedures.

**Classification: **RESTRICTED (BGX Directive)

_/start file/_

_Catherine _

_I am afraid that further analysis has yielded no viable alternatives to mitigate the risks in your proposed "hypothetical" experimentation. I have, however, attached the synopsis of my team's findings as well as all relevant case studies. Perhaps you will find them useful._

_I hope it is a hypothetical study... the use of Binobo chimpanzees in your proposal is troublesome. These animals are expensive and rare now that they are no longer bred in captivity. I would hate to see such valuable specimens wasted in some Section Three project._

_Best,_

_y.j._

Catherine winced slightly at the thinly veiled rebuke hidden in the Admirals communique. He had never really approved of her decision to work with the Office of Naval Intelligence, and made his disappointment with his star pupil evident every time she visited the Hopeful.

She was having enough troubles with internal demons about the course she was about to embark upon without the Admirals disapproval. Gritting her teeth she returns to the files.

_Synopsis of chemical/ biological risks_

**WARNING: the following procedures are classified level-3 experimental. Primate test subjects must be cleared through UNSC Quartermaster General Office code: OBF34. Follow gamma code biohazard disposal protocol.**

_ 1. Carbide ceramic ossification: _advanced material grafting onto skeletal structures to make bones virtually unbreakable. Recommended coverage not to exceed 3 percent because of significant white blood cell necrosis. Specific risk for pre- and near-postpubescent adolescents: skeletalgrowth spurts may cause irreparable bone pulverization. See attached case studies.

_ 2. Muscular enhancement injections: _protein complex is injected intramuscularly to increase tissue density and decrease lactase recovery time. Risk: 5 percent of test subjects experience a fatal cardiac volume increase.

_ 3. Catalytic thyroid implant: _platinum pellet containing human growth hormone catalyst is implanted in the thyroid to boost growth of skeletal and muscle tissues. Risk: rare instances of elephantitis. Suppressed sexual drive.

_4. Occipital capillary reversal: _submergence and boosted blood vessel flow beneath the rods and cones of subjects retina. Produces a marked visual perception increase. Risk: retinal rejection and detachment. Permanent blindness. See attached autopsy reports.

_ 5. Superconducting fibrication of neural dendrites: _alteration of bioelctrical nerve transduction to shielded electronic transconduction. Three hundred percent increase in subject reflexes. Anecdotal evidence of marked increase in intelligence, memory and creativity. Risk: significant instances of Parkinsons disease and Fletchers syndrome.

_ 6. Genetic level mutagen (Jusenkyo Element): _DNA level of enhancement to help subject cope with above procedures. Can cause latent genetic memories to come to the fore, such as a survival instinct on a animalistic level. Risk: less than one percent of subjects undergo physical change. Some develop supernatural seeming abilities, others end in death of subject. See attached autopsy reports and case studies.

_/end file/_

Press **ENTER **to open linked attachments.

Dr. Halsey closed the file. Erasing all traces of the documents and sending Deja to track and destroy all evidence of the message from the Admirals own computer.

Removing her glasses she pinched her nose in a sign of exasperation.

"A question doctor." Deja asked once she had finished with her removal of the data.

"Go ahead, Deja." Catherine replied, having a fair idea of what Deja was going to ask, she had asked the same question upon first reading the files back in university.

"Why is the Genetic Level Mutagen tagged as the 'Jusenkyo Element'?"

The doctor smiled, she loved being correct in her predictions "It's the name of an area in China back on Earth. It translates to 'The Pools of Sorrow' from it's common Japanese name. The legend has it that anyone who should fall into one of the many cursed springs would take the body of whatever drowned in the pool last."

"But how would that be possible, without science and the ability to alter a persons DNA that is rather unfeasible." Deja protested the idea, her logic circuits unable to properly calculate the probability.

"Remove the files from your data banks Deja, your not equipped to deal with the concepts of magic. They defy to many of your logic cores." The doctor ordered.

With an obvious directive the AI was once again all business "At once doctor." and with that the conversation came to an end.

Catherine stood there in silent contemplation of the idea of shape-shifting without the use of modern science. She had been witness to what the Jusenkyo Element could do to the human body and was rather reluctant to use it on the children in her care, but could see no other way to increase their chances of survival beyond what they already had.

The sound of an opening door snapped her out of her musings and she turned to see CPO Mendez walking into the room and giving her a sharp salute. The doctor didn't even bother to return the gesture, rather she gave him an exasperated look.

"You know I don't require a salute Franklin, not in private. I am a civilian after all."

"Yes Ma'am but nowhere on a Navy vessel is truly private." Mendez replied, easily relaxing into an at ease stance.

"How are the children holding up Petty Officer?" She asked in a considerably more business like manner.

"Most have gone under the influence of the sedative within the time expected with a few exceptions." he paused at this point to test her response, but she already had suspicions as to who were resisting the drugs. "Child 012 and 117 are doing their utmost to stay awake, would you like to go check on them?"

"Of course, I would like to do a final round of all the children before their operations begin, I will start with those two."

* * *

They left the room at a fairly brisk pace and walked for only short time before going through an unmarked door into what was obviously a highly anti-septic room. The child Ranma that Catherine had personally picked up all those years ago on Harvest had developed into a prime specimen of masculinity. Built with the body of a hardened soldier at only fourteen years of age thanks to years of harsh physical conditioning and routine growth hormones in their food.

"Hey Doc," Ranma said weakly, obviously feeling the effects of the sedative coursing through his body but refusing to let it take him. Finally spotting Chief Mendez he struggled to sit up and salute but his body refused to obey him any longer. "I know this is one of the Chiefs exercises Doc, but how do we win?" he asked with effort, the sedation finally dragging him under.

"You live, Ranma. You live." She said softly.

A small smile formed on Ranma's face. "Easy. Doc. Spartans. Never. Loose." and with that final statement the sedation pulled him into the abyss of dreamless sleep.

* * *

**0000 Hours March 30, 2525 (Military Calendar) / UNSC Carrier **_**Atlas **_**en route to the Lambda Serpentis system**

"And so we commit the bodies of our fallen brothers to space."

Chief Mendez closed his eyes for a moment of reverence as the ceremony came to completion. He pressed the controls that sent the canisters, containing the ashes of the members of the Spartan squad that had not survived the most recent test, to the launch tubes... and the void beyond.

The remaining members of the Spartans stood tall and rigid as their comrades in arms of the past eight years, their friends, were all sent with as much pomp and ceremony as could be arranged for a squad that shouldn't technically exist and children that were already officially dead.

The normally active deck was unusually quite without the normal bustle of activity. Large black drapes fell down from the roof and only the squad stood there with the CPO. The feeling in the room was somber but also very tense, the idea of death now a very real and potent thought in all their minds.

"Honors... _ten hut!" _Mendez barked at them.

The Spartans all quickly snapped to attention on instinct. Saluting the cylinders in unison.

"Duty," Mendez said. "Honor and self sacrifice. Death does not diminish these qualities in a soldier. We shall remember."

"We shall remember, till death and glory." They chanted back in unison. If their unorthodox reply to the litany surprised the elder man then he let none of it show on his face.

A series of thumps echoed throughout the hull of the carrier as the canisters were hurled into space. The view screen flickered to life, showing the vast field of stars in which a dozen canisters now floated past, quickly falling behind as the carrier continued on its course.

Both John and Ranma stood silently watching as the canisters containing their friends drifted past them. With each one it felt as if they lost a small part of themselves. Through some bizarre twist of fate they had both lost exactly six members of their respective squads.

The deaths of their team members was not the only event that was causing confusion for Ranma though. The operation had some side effects that seemed to only have happened to him. It was something only himself, the Doctor, John and Chief Mendez knew of at the moment but it would have to come out to the squad as a whole eventually.

"Crewmen, dismissed." Mendez said eventually.

The Spartans dispersed out one of the many doors on deck leaving only John, Ranma and Chief Mendez to stare at the view screen where only the stars glowed. The Chief turned to face them, the question as to why they were there obvious in his eyes.

"Spit it out 117." He growled, getting impatient with John's hesitation.

"Sir, Ranma and I were both the team leader yet we both lost good soldiers in the last mission... what did we do wrong?"

Mendez looked them both over with his impenetrable black eyes obviously weighing the answer he was about to give them. He closed his eyes and turned to face the view screen before speaking.

"Look at the view screen boys. Look out at the darkness and tell me what you see." He said at last.

Both Ranma and John hesitated at that, it was obviously an order but it wasn't delivered in the way they were used to. Usually the Petty Officer would bark and order at them, making it clear he wanted it done yesterday, just then though he sounded tired. As if the weight of the world were on his shoulders. It was Ranma who spoke first.

"I see the void that will hold our brethren if we fail them sir." Ranma said slowly, unsure of how to put his feelings into words.

"I see the place we must protect, at any cost, against those who seek to harm the greater good of the human race." John replied, giving word to the feelings on the other side of the coin from what Ranma was feeling.

"Both good answers. Keep in mind always that as commanders with men that trust, respect and believe in you, it is sometimes necessary to send those very same men to their deaths," Mendez turned to face them both again. "You do this because your duty to the UNSC, and by extension the Human race, supersedes your duty to yourself or even your crew."

John and Ranma tried to hold their gaze on Mendez's eyes but the pain of the fresh loss made them both look away in shame. They both missed the flash of sympathy that crossed the CPO's features.

"The important thing to remember is that it is acceptable to spend lives when necessary." They looked back into his eyes, ready to meet and remember this particular lesson. "It is not acceptable, however, to waste those lives. Do you understand the difference?"

"I... believe so sir." John replied, Ranma nodded in confirmation before continuing on the thought in both their minds.

"But which was it in this mission sir. Lives spent?"

"Or lives wasted?" John finished the question, both looking to the man before them for an easy answer, the word that comes down from someone in a position above them that gives them comfort. Mendez though only turned back to the view screen.

"That is something you will both have to figure out for yourselves."

* * *

**A/N: _Once again I am aware that this is painfully short and is starting to leave lots of questions but im sure most of you have noticed how I managed to incorporate the Jusenkyo element into the story. Have yet to settle on a mechanism to activate the change, ideas would be good. If anyone has read the books they will see a few changes to how I wrote this chapter compared to the original, but I tried to keep it as true to the original as possible to keep the Halo universe feel._**

**_If there are any particular elements to the story that people would like added to, or something someone wants to see in a later chapter I am open to idea's, I basically write on the fly. Anyone with a good indepth knowledge on the books and games should be able to give some good input I reckon._**

**_Thank You all for being patient and waiting for me to release. Until next time._**

**_Ja ne _**


	5. Past meet Present

_**Finally Chapter 5 is here for you all too read.**_

_**If you missed the disclaimers in my previous chapter perhaps you should go back and read them. If your lazy like me though here's a recap.**_

**Disclaimer: The Events, Characters and locations detailed in this story are a work of Fiction based off Bungie's Game and Book series Halo and Rumiko Takahashi's Manga Ranma 1/2**_**, **_**I do not nor****will I ever own the aforementioned ****franchises, this work is by a fan for fans with no money gained or lost by myself or the original creators. There is no point in filing a law suit against me as I am nothing more than a poor Otaku anyway. Any resemblance to anyone alive, dead or yet to be conceived is purely coincidental and is in no means a poke in the eye at the person who is resembled. No animals were hurting in the making of the story, though several warlock were sacrificed for the greater good... Now I'm rambling_._**

**_Enjoy and Review.  
_**

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**0430 Hours, April 22, 2525 (Military Calendar) / UNSC Carrier **_**Atlas **_**on patrol of the Lambda Serpentis system**

Lieutenant Nabiki Tendo of the Office of Naval Intelligence walked briskly down the quite corridors of the _Atlas _towards the gym where she had been told that something interesting awaited her. Given that her her source had found in interesting enough to wake her from her scheduled sleep cycle she had decided to hold of punishing them until after she took a look for herself. Finally reaching her goal Nabiki took a moment to fix her slightly ruffled uniform while studying the door.

Somehow, through a technological feat that escapes her, they had managed to get this particular section of the ship to rotate, with the room shrinking towards the back to simulate anything from a quarter standard gravitational unit to two gravities. She always wondered how they managed to attach a stationary door to a spinning room and maintain seal integrity. Sadly the only time she had looked into it the physics and spacial mechanics had given her a headache that had pestered her for several days afterwards.

Finally happy with her state of dress Nabiki walked into the gym and instantly into a conflict between a single marine and several ODST troops. She quickly put the pieces together of what her informant had thought she would find interesting and decided to step in.

"Gentlemen, is there an issue here?" She asked in a voice that wasn't so much stern as it was authoritative.

The four ODST troops quickly spun, obviously looking for a fight but noticing her rank badges before saying anything that could have gotten them in any serious trouble. The single marine on the other hand was much faster on the go.

"Officer on Deck!" He snapped a quick salute and the parade ground reflexes drummed into the other four at boot camp made them respond in kind.

"As you were boys," Nabiki looked them all over as she moved to get a better look at the single marine. "As I understand it you four have some sort of grievance with the marine here. Am I right?" She may have been talking to the ODST troop but her eyes had been on the man by himself the whole time. _It's him. _She thought, _Im sure of it, or if not him then I can get a lead._

"He had been tampering with the machines ma'am, almost broke my foot because of it." One of the larger one's answered after a brief pause.

"So do you propose a dual then Corporal?" She asked, her eyes still on the lone marine so she caught the quick look of interest that flashed across his features. _I just get more and more sure about him that look is a trademark of an anything goes mentality._

"Yes ma'am, I am." The corporal smirked at the thought of having an unrestricted fight with the upstart marine.

"Into the ring then Corporal. Marine." She looked to the man who was being challenged. "As you are the one being challenged you can choose the format of the bout."

The marine considered her for a moment before nodding and turning to the corporal and his friends. "I will take you all on at once, the fight only ends when myself or all my opponents are unconscious or have conceded defeat."

The four ODST troops took a corner each leaving the marine alone in the center smirking confidently. Nabiki looked at them all feeling a small sense of disbelief that this single marine was going to take on four battle hardened ODST by himself. She grinned in approval and moved to the side of the ring.

"Try not to beat each other too much gents I would like to have a chat with the marine once your done playing. You may begin." On her word the four troopers shifted into aggressive martial arts stances, the Marine in the middle, on the other hand, only stood his ground slightly bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Quickly growing tired of waiting for the bouncing marine to make a move the ODST he was facing took an aggressive lunge at him. What happened next was almost too quick for even Nabiki's eyes to catch properly. The marine shifted with the movement of the trooper, grabbing his extended arm and twisting his hip into the troops side, he threw the larger ODST into the opposite corner by merely turning around.

Fortunately for the large trooper his friend was quick on the take and managed to catch him without too much effort, though the large trooper had been knocked unconscious at some point and was out of the fight. The three ODST troops still standing took in the skill with which the marine had handled their friend and quickly lost their confident smirks, the battle hardened training finally coming to bare.

Nabiki stood to the side of the ring, her eye's glued to the marine standing in the center of the ring. Her suspicions had been confirmed with just that one move. Her father had taught her all the basic and a fair number of the advanced moves of the Tendo school of Anything Goes Martial Arts and that move, which had its beginning roots in judo, was one of the most basic techniques she had been taught. This fight wasn't going to last much longer and she knew now for sure that the ODST troops were outclassed.

At an unseen signal between the three men they all began too circle around the edges of the ring, each man doing their best not to show how or where they were planning to attack. After a few tense moments the marine was the first one to launch an attack. Lashing out with a lightning quick leg to the trooper behind him the marine put his body horizontal to avoid the incoming blows from the other two directions. Brining his leg back in and pivoting on the ball of his foot the marine kicked out again, taking the legs out from beneath his third opponent.

The fourth man took some quick steps back out of the marines range after seeing how easily his friends had gone to the mats. The third man was regaining his feet but the man that had been the victim of the kick was laying dazed against a corner post, clearly out of the fight.

Grinning at his last two opponents the marine finally took a stance the ODST troops recognized, it was a traditional boxing stance, right arm extended past the left and body weight constantly shifting between the balls of the feet. He let the troops take their positions before moving in to finish the fight.

Clearly projecting his intentions to the first of the two men he threw a punch to his sternum which was neatly deflected, sadly though the man did not see the fist that had been following the first and was hit solidly in the stomach. The air exploded from his lungs but the marine gave him no time to recover. Striking the mans jaw then his temple with precise and powerful blows the troop was out of the fight in seconds.

The last ODST standing could only stare in wonder as his friend was neatly destroyed with only three punches. He was still standing there slightly awestruck when the marine turned his attention on him. Quickly snapping out of his stupor he did what his friends hadn't thought of, he surrendered the win.

"Marine, well done. What is your name?" Nabiki asked of the lone man

"John, ma'am." He replied with a crisp salute.

"At ease marine," _Its not him then, but that was Anything goes moves he used there, _"Do you know anyone by the name of Ranma?" she asked, not letting the hope she felt into her voice.

"Yes Ma'am, he's with our superior officers at the moment. He needed to report in after our last mission, is there anything I could help you with ma'am?"

Nabiki looked at the young man standing before her, taking in his height, posture and expression before finally coming to a conclusion.

"I would like you to lead me to your CO please, John. I have some things I should probably discuss with them about Ranma." A quick flicker of curiosity passed over John's face, so quick Nabiki would have missed it had she not been looking for a crack in the marines armor, before saluting her promptly, all expression gone once again.

"Yes Ma'am, they are in the medical section, follow me Ma'am." John quickly turned and started to make his way to the door, Nabiki only a step behind.

* * *

Ranma stood in front of the large oak desk that Dr Halsey sat behind, looking above and behind the doctor he tried not to think of presence of CPO Mendez also in the room. The implications of this meeting weighted heavily on Ranma, he wanted to serve the UNSC along side his fellow SPARTAN's but was unsure if he could do so now. This meeting would tell.

"So Ranma," The doctor always used his name, to all other adults in his life he was 012, but not her, never her "I understand that there has been an unforeseen development after your last mission. Would you care to demonstrate for me?" None of the normal small smiles were present today, this meeting was all business and the Doctor made CPO Mendez look expressive.

"Ma'am I first noticed the anomaly when I was taking a shower shortly after being released from quarantine with the other recruits," Ranma decided to just give all information he had and trust in the decision of his CO's ability to make use of what he could do for them. "The water had not been on long and as I did not wish to waste any I started to wash while it was still cold. As soon as I was under the spray my balance shifted and point of perception changed. I was startled by the shift and looked towards my feet only to find I could not see them due to the breasts I now had. Ma'am somehow on contact with the cold water I became female."

The doctor sat in her chair, face still a mask of no emotion. Slowly, after what had seemed hours but was likely only a few minutes she sat forward in her chair and rested her elbows on the desk in front of her. Taking a relax posed with fingers steepled she looked at Ranma, curiosity flickering behind her eye's.

"Demonstrate." The word was quite but as the room held no other noise than their soft breaths the command was not missed.

Ranma took a glass of cold water that had been sitting on the desk for the demonstration and without hesitation poured the contents over his head, the water was frigid and the feel of it down his spine made him want to squirm but he let no discomfort show, weakness was not an option in front of this woman.

The change was almost something out of a 21st century film, the mass of his body shifted and he lost height while gaining distinctly feminine curves on hips and chest. The raven black hair on his head shifted to a vivid red color, the military buzz cut made him look tomboyish despite the generous female assets. Once the change was complete Ranma shifted into a loose at ease stance and did her best to hold a proper military bearing.

"Fascinating, truly fascinating." The doctor murmured half to herself.

Before the conversation could start once again there was a buzz followed by Deja's voice coming over a speaker hidden in the desk. "John is asking permission to enter Doctor, he is with Lieutenant Nabiki Tendo of ONI, she seems to have requested a meeting with you in regards to 012."

"Let them in Deja, this could be interesting, maybe ONI have some information I do not."

"Yes doctor." There was a subtle click from the doorway before it slid back to reveal the forms of John and Nabiki.

Taking only a couple of steps into the room John stops and salute's. "Recruit 117-John, reporting with Lieutenant Tendo." His eyes scanned the room as he spoke, only stopping on the female form of Ranma for a short time before looking straight ahead at the same far off point as his fellow recruit.

"At ease John," Doctor Halsey said as more a reflex than anything else, her attention solely on the form of the Lieutenant. "An honor and a pleasure to meet you at last Lieutenant, it is quite a surprise to see the daughter of Admiral Tendo in such a far flung territory."

Nabiki's expression didn't alter a fraction at the mention of her over protective father. Smiling slightly instead she spoke calmly. "It's an honor to meet you also Dr Halsey, the only civilian to have security clearance equal to a ONI Officer and the mind behind the SPARTAN II super soldier program, a great honor indeed."

To her credit Dr Halsey managed to hide her surprise at Nabiki's knowledge behind her famous knowing smile that irked so many of the people who has worked with her in the past. Inwardly she was wondering how an ONI Lieutenant even knew of the existence of the SPARTAN II program. Putting her worries aside for when she had a bit more time to herself the Doctor decided to get to the point.

"How can I help you today Lieutenant Tendo? I believe that since you know of my work it concerns one of the recruits?" The doctor smiled at the young Lieutenant and was pleased to see a quick flash of unease in the younger woman's expression before she answered.

"I have been trying to locate a child by the name of Ranma Saotome, I spoke with his parent several years ago and they said that he had joined one of the young recruit programs in the inner colonies, it is only recently that I discovered they had lied to me. Im sure you know the reasons why."

The Doctor shot a quick look at Ranma and could tell only his rigid training had kept him from saying anything or even making the slightest movement at the mention of his parents long left behind. She needed to find out why this young ONI Officer was after one of her star recruits before making any further decisions.

"I hope you don't mind my asking Lieutenant Tendo but why is it that you are looking for this Ranma Saotome?"

"He is to be my husband." Nabiki didn't want to take any chances by being circumspect around a woman that to be honest had equal political pull to her own father and decided to be honest about her motives.

"Now that is an interesting claim, why do you think that Mr Saotome is to be your husband Miss Tendo, you don't mind if we drop titles do you? It is just us five after all." Dr Halsey's mind was racing despite her calm outward demeanor, Ranma was engaged to someone? How come this had never come up in her files? For that matter how was it possible?

Ranma had no contact with the outside world after he became a recruit. She had to get answers quickly before the confrontation with someone from his past broke even the rock solid reserve that her children had.

"It is an agreement that predates either of our births Im afraid Doctor, the terms were decided on by our parents that when were entering our teens we were to be officially engaged and married at the age of 18. I started my search for him when I turned 16 and was a new ONI officer after it became apparent that he was not going to come to visit my family on Earth as had been agreed. I am now 18 years old and wanting to uphold my end of the agreement, it is a matter of Family Honor."

"Well you certainly seem to have pure motives Miss Tendo but I'm sure you are aware that the Saotome boy is four years your junior." That should give Nabiki enough information so that she would surrender more in turn.

"I am aware of the age difference between us Doctor, I do not plan to force a 14 year old child into a marriage with a woman almost in her twenties but I do need to find him so he knows of the agreement and also to give him time to adjust to the idea of being wed when he reaches 18."

"Very well but there is something you should be made aware of, Ranma is now something that science cannot truly fathom, I hope you don't mind have a shift of perspective," Gaining no negative response from the young Lieutenant Dr Halsey turned her attention to the female Ranma "Ranma please change and introduce yourself to your new fiancee."

With a quick nod Ranma stepped towards the desk and picked up the small thermos that had been resting on it. Quickly opening the container he tipped the still hot contents over his head. Once again the feeling of the change and the water now running down his back made him uncomfortable but as with the cold water he showed no outward signs.

Turning to the young ONI officer Ranma gave a crisp salute. "SPARTAN 012 Ranma Saotome, Ma'am."

The disbelief was clear in Nabiki's eyes and her mind worked overtime to try and come to terms with the radical change that had just over taken the red head that had been standing quietly to the side the whole time. With the impossibilities she faced it was a credit to her mental strength that she managed to stay conscious, it was several minutes before speech returned however.

The first question is one that Ranma would hear many more time throughout his life, "How?"

"It was part of the procedure that has made them SPARTAN's Miss Tendo, the details are rather classified so I can't explain any further than that," Dr Halsey explained "At ease Ranma," The young man relaxed back into a stance that was only slightly less rigid.

"This does make an interesting change to the deal but since he is still a he then the agreement can still be fulfilled," Holding out a hand she smiled at the young man before her, "Im Nabiki Tendo of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, it's a pleasure to finally meet you Ranma."

Ranma quickly glanced at Doctor Halsey, unsure how to proceed outside of military doctrine, he grasped her hand in a firm grip "Ranma Saotome, sorry about this."

* * *

_**A/N: There it is at long last, chapter 5 of Halo One Half. Sorry for taking like 6 months to finally get this out but my muse was kidnapped by the Lich King and the rent-a-muse company just isn't up to their normal standard, it seem Prince Arthas has kidnapped all their decent ones leaving me with a medley of idiot savants that can't right to save themselves but play a mean piano.**_

_**Anyway im working on killing the servants of the Lich King and finally freeing my muse from his evil undead grasp, only got 7/12 so far though... one day I shall triumph over evil, one day.... in the mean time don't expect frequent updates to this story even if it is still being written. **_

**_Reviews may help inspire one of my rent-a-muse's to do more than cry in a corner though so please do so with great and overbearing cheer if possible, flames just feed the emo's._**

**_Anyway Ja Ne._**

**_Moritynz  
_**


End file.
